GHAR KA HAQ - AAP welcomes All Party meet on Transit Homes demands time bound result On 25th July Aam Aadmi Party volunteers led by Anjali Damani had gheraoed MHADA office in Bandra along with hundreds of residents of transit camps. On this insistence of Anjali and the protestors, MHADA Chariman Prasad Lad came down and addressed them. In response to their questions he conceded that their demand were fair and assured that he would approach the Housing Minister and the Chief Minister and work out a solution. Aam Aadmi Party appreciates that as promised, he met the Ministers and advocated the cause of these 14000 families who live in transit homes. Attached is the letter sent by him to the Housing Minister and the Chief Minister calling for an All Party Meeting to make a final decisive policy on their rights and the way forward. (Exhibit Pg 6 & 7) Aam Aadmi welcomes this initiative and we appeal to all parties to put aside differences and come together to give these 70000 citizens of Mumbai their right to their homes. BG Shirke Constructions These people have been tenants of MHADA for years and years, living in pitiful transit camps and now even these dilapidated homes are being snatched away to benefit a builder - B G Constructions who has got redevelopment contracts of all MHADA transit camps without any tendering process. It is a gross violations of human rights to keep 70000 citizens of the city in these extreme circumstances and AAP demands that there should be no delay in making the policy. Shirke Constructions makes repeated attempts to demolish homes, despite court orders which disallow demolitions in the rains. While some have been evicted, many others are living in the constant threat of being thrown out of their homes.The transit camps are in extreme dilapidated conditions - yesterday a slab fell on a child’s head in Mulund. In some places Shirke has cut off water supply and electricity. Some startling facts about B G Shirke Const Tech Pvt Ltd 1. Through RTI we found out that currently 14 Transit Camps are being developed by B G Shirke (Exhibit Pg1) 2. RTI shows that no tendering has been done and that contracts were just given to B G Shirke (Exhibit Pg3) 3. The Government of Maharashtra passed an order stating that B G Shirke is the only qualified company to do the redevelopment work (Exhibit Pg4B) 4. As on 11/02/2011 B G Shirke was awarded fresh contracts worth 616.35 crores to be completed within a time frame of 24 months (Exhibit Pg5A-5D) 5. Mumbai High Court passed an order in 1997 stating that all contracts should be awarded only after due tendering process and all national & international companies which have the technology of pre stressed concrete blocks should be allowed to participate. (Exhibit Pg4) 6. On 30/04/1998 GoM and MHADA agreed to amend the order of 1984 which awarded all contacts to B G Shirke but said that currently they would continue with B G Shirke as they cannot process a new list every year. (Exhibit 4) 7. On 26/11/2002 a committee was formed which was directed to make a list of contractors with the required technology (Exhibit Page 4C) 8. Advertisements were given only on 05/06/2006 and 06/06/2006 to invite names of contractors for this committee Only two companies applied but both were rejected on flimsy grounds and the contract was again awarded to B G Shirke. (Exhibit Page 4C) 9. On 16/08/2006 Prinicipal Secretary Housing held a meeting in which they concluded that only B G Shirke was capable of handling large scale, fast, affordable and quality projects. This decision was approved by GOM (Exhibit Page 4B & 4C) 10. 15/01/2008 10 contractors applied but again only B G Shirke was found suitable. (Exhibit Page 4D) It is incredible how GoM and MHADA have only found one contractor suitable across decades and have managed to bypass court orders in order to favor B G Shirke. Background Since 1972, 56 transit camps were made in Mumbai which house 22,500 families. Out of the 22,500 families, approximately 14,000 families who were originally allotted the homes, sold and alienated their rights in of their respective premises in favour of third parties - the purchasers. MHADA offices duly transferred the respective flats in the name of such third parties. All the 14,000 occupants have been paying rent to MHADA and have duly received rent receipts in respect thereof for decades. Now when Shirke is redeveloping these camps, MHADA has woken up to the fact that its officials were wrong in legalizing these rights. So they have simply declared them “illegal”. The moot point is that these people are not asking for free homes! They are only asking for three things: 1. Due notice period for evacuation 2. Right to have a home in the new construction by paying any penalties or charges that the government may think fit 3. Relocation during the period of redevelopment. Aam Aadmi Party demands that MHADA and the State Government immediately work out a policy to give these people the right to their homes. We demand that all evacuations and demolitions be stopped during the monsoons. We also demand that those who have been forcefully evacuated by given temporary accommodation. In addition, the condition of two buildings in Mulund transit camp is so poor that they may collapse any day, we demand that these 100 odd families be immediately re-housed. For Exhibits Visit: https://app.box/s/6l3altnxajirc0vqywaw
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 12:12:16 +0000
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